Must Reads for a Software Developer

JavaLobby has a post up regarding Must Reads for Software Developers. Although the title doesn’t mention Java, it’s a pretty Java-laden list. (It’s JavaLobby after all). Just my two cents:

Refactoring (Martin Fowler) and Design Patterns (GoF) are interesting because many of the things talked about are so ubiquitous now as to be almost invisible. The Observer Pattern? That’s just pretty much how events work these days (but not at the time it was written). Rename a variable? That’s so easy and cheap in most IDE’s that you forget that there’s any trick to it at all. That being said, I don’t think they are only interesting as historical documents. Just the intro to Design Patterns changed my whole way of thinking about OO design. And the Refactoring book still has plenty that isn’t implemented in some IDE’s as well as vital discussion of the principles proper motivations behind refactoring in the first place.